Chris Harrison has confirmed The Bachelorette producers shared the news of Eric Hill's recent tragic death with the show's contestants and tenth-season star Andi Dorfman.
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"We never would have kept it from them. He was a good friend of theirs. Absolutely, they know," Harrison told ABC News yesterday.
"They're still dealing with it. His funeral was a few days ago, [and] we all decided, 'Let's deal with this and get past it and heal ourselves.' Everybody's very emotional right now and that's never a good time to make a final decision."
The Bachelorette host also said producers are still trying to figure out how they should address Hill's death on the show this summer.
"We're not sure 100 percent of how we're going to deal with it. We're doing our best and we made the best decisions we could at the time. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out," Harrison explained, adding that Dorfman is currently filming her round of hometown dates.
"We did the best we could trying to be as honorable and decent to the family and to him. It was really something we'd never dealt with before but we did it as delicately and respectfully as we could."
Hill, a 32-year-old adventurer and extreme-sports enthusiast, died a week ago following a paragliding accident in Utah. Hill was a California native who lived in Salt Lake City, UT, and according to Unified Fire Authority, his parachute collapsed in some turbulent winds, causing him to crash into the mountainside, CBS' KUTV-TV affiliate in Salt Lake City reported.
Hill had been taken to a hospital via helicopter in critical condition after the accident and was in a coma leading up to his passing.
Dorfman picked Hill for her first one-on-one date of the season, according to Reality Steve, which is typically an indication he was an early frontrunner to win her heart. However, the paragliding accident reportedly took place once Hill returned home and therefore did not occur while he was filming the show.
Harrison also told ABC News that Hill made a lasting impression on the cast and crew of the ABC reality dating series.
"It was a great experience for him," Harrison said. "I guarantee this brilliant, bright guy didn't know he would be dead in three weeks, so it really puts things into perspective for all of us. It was horrifying. It was unbelievably tragic and sad. He was a great guy who sucked every ounce of life out of every day and really lived it to the fullest."
The Bachelorette's tenth season is set to premiere on Monday, May 19 at 9PM ET/PT on ABC.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
